Indiana University Athletics
Saturday Offers Chance To Get Back In Win Column
1/29/2016 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - When Indiana takes the court against Minnesota on Saturday, it will face a challenge it hasn't met in nearly two months — rebounding from a loss.
The Hoosiers fell just a few plays short of Wisconsin on the road Tuesday, snapping their 12-game win streak for their first Big Ten loss of the season.
Now, IU will look to regain their footing for the first time since losing to Duke at Cameron Indoor on Dec. 2.
"We've faced a lot of adversity as a group already, so it's just a little thing to get back at," senior guard Nick Zeisloft said. "We're all ready to roll after it, and we're excited to get back on the court as a team, watch the film and learn from it, and bounce back on Saturday."
The Hoosiers will have the best home venue in the nation at their advantage.
Assembly Hall is the only site in college basketball where both the men's and women's teams are undefeated this season and have a combined 20 home wins between them. It's also where IU has beaten opponents by 25-plus points in its last three games.
The last time that happened? The 1987-88 season.
"It's so hard winning on the road in the Big Ten," sophomore guard Robert Johnson said. "Our fans just do a great job of feeding off of our energy, and that's something that really helps us out."
The Hoosiers last road win came in Minneapolis, where Minnesota (6-15, 0-9) played Indiana (17-4, 7-1) tough all but two weeks ago. They overcame a nine-point first half deficit and held off a handful of Golden Gopher forays to escape The Barn with an 80-73 win.
Despite sitting at opposite ends of the conference standings, head coach Tom Crean said he sees a team that is right on the cusp of a Big Ten win. The Golden Gophers were just four points shy of No. 21 Purdue in their most recent contest and took Michigan down to the wire in the Crisler Center, where they missed by five.
"This is not a game where you play the record but you play what they're capable of," Crean said. "I know our guys are locked in, and we're going need every bit of that because they create a lot of problems."
One problem area where Indiana will continue to concentrate its efforts is limiting turnovers.
The Hoosiers did a relatively good job of handling the ball during their 12-game win streak, averaging just over 13 giveaways a game compared to almost 16 a game before that stretch.
In Madison, they gave the Badgers the ball 19 times, a product, Crean said, of over-dribbling and failing to make the simple plays.
"There's no need for the unforced turnovers, especially when you can make the next simple play," Crean said. "Home, road, whatever it is, we just have to play that way because when you take the turnovers out of our game, our offense is that much better."
There's evidence to back Crean up. Indiana leads the conference in turnover percentage at 21.6, yet the still owns the best offensive efficiency numbers (115) and effective field goal percentage (58).
The Hoosiers' average number of turnovers during the last three home games — which they won by a collective margin of 91 points? Eleven.
"We can't just bank on the fact that we've had some really good games here and it will just be that type of game," Crean said. "We've got to really come out and earn it and establish that we're going to play with a really aggressive nature from the very beginning."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - When Indiana takes the court against Minnesota on Saturday, it will face a challenge it hasn't met in nearly two months — rebounding from a loss.
The Hoosiers fell just a few plays short of Wisconsin on the road Tuesday, snapping their 12-game win streak for their first Big Ten loss of the season.
Now, IU will look to regain their footing for the first time since losing to Duke at Cameron Indoor on Dec. 2.
"We've faced a lot of adversity as a group already, so it's just a little thing to get back at," senior guard Nick Zeisloft said. "We're all ready to roll after it, and we're excited to get back on the court as a team, watch the film and learn from it, and bounce back on Saturday."
The Hoosiers will have the best home venue in the nation at their advantage.
Assembly Hall is the only site in college basketball where both the men's and women's teams are undefeated this season and have a combined 20 home wins between them. It's also where IU has beaten opponents by 25-plus points in its last three games.
The last time that happened? The 1987-88 season.
"It's so hard winning on the road in the Big Ten," sophomore guard Robert Johnson said. "Our fans just do a great job of feeding off of our energy, and that's something that really helps us out."
The Hoosiers last road win came in Minneapolis, where Minnesota (6-15, 0-9) played Indiana (17-4, 7-1) tough all but two weeks ago. They overcame a nine-point first half deficit and held off a handful of Golden Gopher forays to escape The Barn with an 80-73 win.
Despite sitting at opposite ends of the conference standings, head coach Tom Crean said he sees a team that is right on the cusp of a Big Ten win. The Golden Gophers were just four points shy of No. 21 Purdue in their most recent contest and took Michigan down to the wire in the Crisler Center, where they missed by five.
"This is not a game where you play the record but you play what they're capable of," Crean said. "I know our guys are locked in, and we're going need every bit of that because they create a lot of problems."
One problem area where Indiana will continue to concentrate its efforts is limiting turnovers.
The Hoosiers did a relatively good job of handling the ball during their 12-game win streak, averaging just over 13 giveaways a game compared to almost 16 a game before that stretch.
In Madison, they gave the Badgers the ball 19 times, a product, Crean said, of over-dribbling and failing to make the simple plays.
"There's no need for the unforced turnovers, especially when you can make the next simple play," Crean said. "Home, road, whatever it is, we just have to play that way because when you take the turnovers out of our game, our offense is that much better."
There's evidence to back Crean up. Indiana leads the conference in turnover percentage at 21.6, yet the still owns the best offensive efficiency numbers (115) and effective field goal percentage (58).
The Hoosiers' average number of turnovers during the last three home games — which they won by a collective margin of 91 points? Eleven.
"We can't just bank on the fact that we've had some really good games here and it will just be that type of game," Crean said. "We've got to really come out and earn it and establish that we're going to play with a really aggressive nature from the very beginning."
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